


give me a simple love

by wafflesofdoom



Category: Hit the Floor (TV)
Genre: Dating, Heartbreak, M/M, Second Chances
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-08-08
Packaged: 2019-06-16 04:28:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15429030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wafflesofdoom/pseuds/wafflesofdoom
Summary: a series of jude/noah ficlets.#4 - theres bravery in moving on, in letting people have the power to break your heart. jude tests his newfound dedication for being brave by bringing noah to his apartment for the first time. set post 4x05.





	1. he doesn't kiss me like you did

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> noah kisses differently to anyone jude has ever been with. jude needs that, he decides.

Jude could count on one hand, the amount of people he’s been with in his life. In college, he was too focused on his career, too deep in the closet to date all that much - and when he had, it was always the girls Jude had imagined Oscar would have approved off, the kind of woman he’d have been able to have on his arm when he finally got his fathers approval.

Even when he’d come out, even after that - well, it had always been Zero, hadn’t it?

The point was, well, Jude didn’t have a whole lot of experience.

But he knew enough to know Noah was different.

Kissing Zero, it had always been desperate, on some level. Desperate to keep it a secret, desperate to hide whatever they had between them. Desperately in love, desperately clinging to a man who wasn’t ready for the kind of commitment Jude craved. Every kiss, every touch, it had come with an element of desperation.

Jude hadn’t minded at the time - really, he hadn’t minded at all, because Zero had loved him, in ways Jude had never known in his life before. Desperately, messily, infinitely.

Zero had broken his heart in the end, though. He’d broken all sorts of promises, and he’d left Jude alone - left with a sorry, and a desperate kiss.

Desperate, desperate, desperate. Desperate to hold onto what they had, desperate to say he was sorry, desperate to make up for all the ways he still managed to hurt Jude. Poor, sad, vulnerable Jude - he’d always been an easy target for the wrong people, easy to manipulate, easy to get onside, easy to make fall in love with you.

No - no, that was the anger, talking. Zero had loved him, really loved him - he just hadn’t loved him enough, in the end. Desperate kisses, no matter what kind of desperation they were tinged with, didn’t make for a happy ending.

Jude had to learn that the hard way.

Noah was different from Zero in every single way. He was open, and funny, and kind, and completely unfiltered in ways that shocked Jude - completely himself, completely out, completely proud.

He even kissed  _differently_.

Noah kissed Jude like he  **wanted**  him. Like - like he wasn’t ashamed of it, like he couldn’t care less about who knew, or didn’t know. Noah kissed him like he wanted it, like kissing Jude was something he craved unapologetically, hands on Jude’s hips and confident, wanting lips on Jude’s own as Jude pushed Noah back onto the couch in the ISN office, bracketed in by Noah’s thighs, their hips pressed together in a way that was making Jude’s eyes roll back into his head.

Noah kissed like they had all the time in the world. Like - like he didn’t care who walked in, as though he was happy to stay like this all day, lips moving against Jude’s, warm hands caressing the warm skin of Jude’s lower back.

It wasn’t the kind of desperate Jude was used to. Desperate with a time limit, desperate tinged with fear, fear someone might catch them.

No, it was hardly desperate at all, Jude decided, pressing his face into Noah’s neck, huffing out breathless pants against the other man’s skin as Noah unbuckled Jude’s trousers, pushing the material down as far as he could, still unfamiliar fingers playing at the waistband of Jude’s underwear.

It was wanting. The kind of wanting that had Jude’s stomach doing somersaults, his heart thumping in his chest as every unfamiliar part of Noah became slightly more familiar, the newness of it all thrilling.

Kissing Noah was different -

But different was what Jude needed, he decided.

_(Zero wasn’t coming back, was he? And Jude - Jude, he deserved to be wanted, he **deserved**  this.)_

It was about time he embraced different.


	2. a new normal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ts funny, really, how something as simple as noah caring enough to take note of jude’s ridiculous coffee order meant so much. or, malorie put this idea in my head and i couldn’t shake it.

Jude had always wanted to be a part of the Devil’s Nation. He’d grown up craving it, needing to be a part of the empire his father had built, wanting to sit behind a desk in the Devils Arena and be a part of it all. He had that, now - in a way he’d never have imagined, with his name on the deeds and in full control of the team, his father nowhere to be seen.

Not even thirty yet, and he owned his own basketball team.

It was more than Jude could ever have dreamed of, and he loved it, he did - he thrived under pressure, loved the challenge of being a leader, of having the responsibility that came with being owner.

He’d just imagined it all happening in a different way, that’s all - with a ring on his finger, and a husband by his side, and a house of his own. Jude had always been a fantasist, the kind of person who believed in a happy ending, because you didn’t survive growing up like he did without desperately dreaming of your happy ever after.

Still, Jude knew more than anyone that life didn’t always work out like you’d planned it too, and so he could hold his head high, and get on with it. Jude had a team to run, after all, and he’d rather be sitting in his office, going through paperwork, than sitting in a quiet apartment on his own.

He was moving on, he was - but it was slow, and Jude sometimes just craved the stability of a relationship, of having someone to come home to every night.

Silence was deafening, sometimes.

Pulling at his tie, Jude leaned back in his chair, eyes blurry as he tried to take in every word on all the paperwork strewn across the desk.

It had been a long day.

“Knock knock.”

Jude looked up to see Noah standing in the doorway of his office, coffees in hand. He was clearly on the way out of the arena, wearing a sweatshirt and looking the polar opposite to the stylish, boundlessly energetic man he’d been on the court after the game, giving the Devils all the coverage and headlines they needed.

In a way, Jude sort of appreciated how comfortable Noah seemed to be around him. It was easy, sleeping with Noah - the other man seemed to know exactly what buttons of Jude’s to push, to have Jude melting in his hands. It wasn’t complicated (yet, at least) and it was fun.

It had felt like a while since Jude had fun,  _real_  fun.

“I brought you a coffee,” Noah explained, taking Jude’s smile as a ‘come in.’ It had been, if Jude was being honest. “Low fat latte with two extra shots and sugar free vanilla, right?”

Jude’s heart, embarrassingly, started thumping in his chest. He and Noah had been for coffee together all of about twice, in the past few weeks, yet here he was, able to reel off Jude’s ridiculous coffee order without a problem. “Uh, yeah - how did you remember?” he couldn’t help but ask, sitting up a little taller, gratefully accepting the coffee Noah was offering him.

Noah simply grinned, settling himself on the couch in Jude’s office. There was an unspoken agreement between them, now, that Noah tended to stay away from Jude’s desk. Noah couldn’t spill secrets if he didn’t know them, could he?

“Did you ask the barista?” Jude questioned teasingly, pulling his tie off the rest of the way and moving to join Noah on the couch, sipping at the piping hot coffee. It was exactly what he needed, if he was being honest - a caffeine hit, and a ten minute distraction from the mountain of work he needed to do now Jelena was gone, a new EVP top of his list.

“I remember the things that are worth remembering,” Noah said, leaning in closer, close enough that Jude could study every inch of his face, every freckle and line, the tiny scar above Noah’s lip Jude knew nothing about.

Noah was new. He was new, and unfamiliar, and unchartered territory, and before, it would have scared Jude, because he was a control freak - he needed to be able to map out his every move, be able to be the one in control in order to feel comfortable.

(That’s why things had been so hard with Zero sometimes, he supposed - he’d never been able to be in control when it came to him, and maybe that had been what had broken them in the end. Jude had wanted control, stability and Zero had never so much as entertained the thought.)

Jude just - well, he felt like he had nothing to worry about with Noah, really, because it was easy, it was simple. It was sex, with a gorgeous man, who happened to know his overly complicated coffee order.

Jude could embrace this as the new normal, he really could - because maybe life wasn’t working out according to plan, and there was no ring on his finger, but there was a man who was interested, a man who cared enough to take note of Jude’s likes, sitting on his couch, smiling at Jude like he was here to stay, and well - it felt good.

It felt like it could be something good.


	3. give me a simple love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jude and noah talk after the miami game. a coda to 4x03.

Jude is tired. The kind of tired you feel right into your bones, the kind of tiredness that sinks in and stays here, the kind of tired that latches on to every part of who you are. He’d always dreamed, of owning the Devils, and he’d never been under any illusions that it would be easy, but he hadn’t expected getting control of the team to be the easy part, in the end.

A fist fight, during his first game as owner. Jude had known Derek long enough, now - he had a temper that could scare Jude, and he wasn’t easily scared, but he was proud, too, and Jude had hoped that the pride would win out and he’d be playing for his life against Miami.

Now? Now the Devils were running on a loop on every sports network in the country, and all for the wrong reasons. Jude had dreamed of a sensational win against Miami, headlines to be proud of.

They hadn’t had many of those, this past year.

Jude squeezed his eyes shut, trying to shake the memories of the days, the weeks, he’d spent holed up in his office, reading headline after headline about Zero’s shock pre-season trade, photos of Zero with new men - and women - hanging off him in New York’s hottest nightclubs his bedtime reading for weeks, snarky gossip headlines pointing out how tired Jude looked for months the driving force behind Lionel forcing him to take up jogging with her again, his best friend completely mothering him (for want of a better word) for months until he managed to pick himself back up, uninteresting to the tabloids again.

All Jude wanted was one good headline. Jude Kinkade, estranged son of Oscar Kinkade, clawed his way to the top of the LA Devil’s food-chain and made something of himself. Thats what Jude had imagined, walking into his first game as owner of the Los Angeles Devils.

That wasn’t exactly how it had gone down in reality.

“So, first game as owner under your belt.”

Jude looked up at the familiar voice, Noah strolling on to the court, hands in his pockets. He was still wearing his shirt from earlier, tie long since discarded and the sleeves rolled to his elbows.

He looked good. The kind of mouthwatering good that would have had Jude wanting him, if he hadn’t felt so bogged down by the events of that evening. It was hard, to think about anything other than his entire life goals going down the toilet.

“And what an absolute disaster it was,” Jude replied, giving Noah a sad smile. “Good news story for you.”

Noah gave a slow nod. “It’s a great news story for anyone who isn’t a Devil,” he agreed, picking up a discarded basketball. “But I can still care about how it makes you feel, can’t I?”

“Can you?”

Noah nodded, spinning the ball between his hands. “You’re not work to me, Jude,” he said, eyes wide and intent. Jude liked that, about Noah - there was nothing secretive about him. What you saw, is what you got, and Jude needed that.

This thing, whatever it would end up being - well, it was new. It was new, and tentative, but it felt good. Jude, he decided, there and then, looking up at Noah from the seat he had been wallowing in for the past half an hour, deserved a simple love.

Noah could be that, given the chance.

But - well, Jude shouldn’t get ahead of himself.

“I thought you were a walking hot mic,” Jude tried to crack a joke, easing himself out of the chair, shrugging off his suit jacket and gesturing for Noah to pass him the ball.

“Mic is on charge, right now,” Noah returned the smile, easily throwing the ball to Jude. “It’s just you and me.”

Jude looked down at the ball in his hands, years of memories flooding back to him. High school basketball, growing up glued to every Devil’s game - the despair he’d felt when he’d done his knee in at seventeen, putting an end to any dreams he might have had of playing on the Devils court, his focus turning to the back-office and the places where he could be in control.

“I love basketball,” Jude said quietly, passing the ball from hand to hand. “I’m not part of the Devil’s because I’m a Kinkade, because my - because Oscar was. I’m part of the Devil’s because I love this team, I believe in this team, Noah. I can’t fail this team, not now.”

“You’re not failing,” Noah shook his head, catching the ball as Jude tossed it back toward him. “It was never going to be easy. You and Derek have some serious bad blood - and if you ask me, a lot more happened in Miami than he’s ever going to admit to you, or anyone in the Devils.”

Jude was quiet for a second. “Can I ask you something?”

Noah nodded, giving Jude a bright grin. The kind of smile Jude could imagine lighting up his worst days, weeks, months down the line, his - his  _someone_  halfway to laughter as he threw a particularly high ball, making Jude jump for it.

“Why haven’t you run screaming yet?” Jude asked, setting the ball back in the kit basket, focusing on Noah, now.

“From you?”

Jude nodded, hating the way his throat constricted as he forced himself to get the words out. “I’m - I’m all baggage, Noah. Zero - my dad, this team. I’m never going to be an easy person to be with. Why are you still here?”

Noah’s brow furrowed, the other man closing the space between them, close enough that Jude could hear his every ragged breath. “We’ve all got baggage, Jude,” he said. “I’m here because I like you. You’re smart, and funny, when you want to be - and you’re ridiculously sexy.”

Jude couldn’t help the way his cheeks flushed, ducking his head as he tried to shake off Noah’s compliment. “I’ll mess this up,” he said, not quite looking at Noah. “I always do, I mess up every relationship I’ve ever been in.”

“I don’t think thats true,” Noah said, sincere.

Jude swallowed thickly. Three people in this entire world knew why he and Zero had broken up - Zero, Lionel, and Jude himself. The tabloids had speculated, sure, everything from claiming Zero couldn’t leave his playboy past behind, to assuming he’d gotten bored of Jude.

Noah didn’t know, though - yet here he was, believing in Jude and his ability to navigate a relationship in ways Jude didn’t, not anymore, not after Zero.

“You’ll run,” Jude shook his head. “I know you will.”

“Give me a chance not too, first,” Noah said, leaning in to press a kiss to Jude’s lips before Jude could reply, before Jude could protest anymore.

Jude was helpless to do anything except kiss Noah back, the material of Noah’s shirt soft under his fingertips as they kissed, right there in the middle of the court. Jude couldn’t help but grin against Noah’s lips, enjoying himself too much to pull away.

Another fuck you to Oscar.

“Now,” Noah grinned, pulling back. “Are you taking me on a date or what?”

“Who said I wanted to date you?” Jude tried to joke, watching as Noah picked up Jude’s blazer, walking backwards toward the exit.

“You did,” Noah smirked. “When you interrupted my date.”

“I didn’t -“

“Jude, you sat down in the middle of my date,” Noah laughed, shaking his head. “Either you really wanted a coffee, or you didn’t want me dating anyone else - and I think we both know which one it is.”

Jude returned the smirk. “I do love a good Americano.”

“And I want Thai food,” Noah said, the two of them falling into step beside each other as they headed for the exit of the arena. “So you can figure out how to tell me just how much you want to date me while you drive us downtown.”

Jude couldn’t wipe the smile from his face as he rooted for his car keys, the new Porsche he’d bought himself six months previously gleaming under the bright lights of the arena carpark.

Maybe - maybe simplicity was exactly what he needed, now.

Simplicity, Thai food, and a distraction from the headlines declaring Jude too young to be an owner, calling him incompetent already. Tomorrow - tomorrow he would shake his tiredness, and he’d get to work rebuilding the Devils to what they had been two seasons previously.

But for now, he had a guy who was interested in dating him - baggage and all.

Jude could embrace that.


	4. love is lovelier (second time around)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> theres bravery in moving on, in letting people have the power to break your heart. jude tests his newfound dedication for being brave by bringing noah to his apartment for the first time. set post 4x05.

Jude’s suit was damp, and uncomfortable, as he walked out of the venue, feeling a lot less put together than he had done as he’d arrived earlier that evening, Lionel on hand, and a new bowies (in sapphire blue) around his neck.

They never did show the aftermath of those cheesy, romantic, running out into the rain declarations, in movies, did they? If they had, people probably wouldn’t do them, considering the way Jude’s damp shirt was chafing against his underarms.

“Sorry that took so long,” Jude said softly, Noah looking up from where he was scrolling through his phone. He’d offered Noah his keys, his - well, his boyfriend, really, as soaked through as Jude was, but Noah had shook his offer off with a smile and said he’d wait. “I had a run in with the Commissioner.”

Noah raised an eyebrow. “Do you want to talk about it?” he offered, standing up and pocketing his phone.

Jude didn’t even have to think about it, really, shaking his head. “No,” he said, letting out a breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding, drinking in Noah’s dishevelled appearance. “I really don’t want to talk about work, right now.”

Noah’s smile was a reflection of Jude’s own, a combination of relief and giddy excitement.

How - how had Jude ever thought he didn’t want this? How had Jude thought he could live without this? The way Noah made him feel, it had the potential to be so much, and mean so much, and looking at Noah, the two of them standing around the foyer of the awards venue, like two giddy teenagers - well, it was obvious Noah felt the same.

“Do you - do you still want to come back to mine?” Jude asked, jerking his head toward the door and the line of taxi’s that were waiting outside in anticipation of the show ending, and the after-show parties beginning.

Jude, well, he probably should be showing face at one of the after parties, at least, but he didn’t want to. For once, he could depend on Derek to show face for the Devils, his number one player back on Jude’s side for now, at least. Derek Roman was the one people wanted to see, anyway - the king of the court, a Devil’s legend.

Jude was just the owner of the team, and without a championship win, that didn’t make him all that interesting.

Noah nodded, a soft smile still fixed in place on his face. “I’d like to,” he confirmed, the two of them falling into step beside each other as they headed for the door, the raining still thundering down.

The ride back to Jude’s apartment was quiet, the two of them sitting in the back of the cab, Jude’s heart thumping in his chest every time Noah looked over at him, that coy smile of his fixed in place on his face, his hair damp with rain and swept back off his face.

God, Noah really was gorgeous.

“I haven’t had anyone around here before,” Jude admitted as they ascended the stairs to his apartment. He’d lived there for over a year now, but it still felt so new to him, living in an expensive apartment in downtown LA. He’d imagined his life looking so differently, by now, but what Jude had now, well - it was good.

It was the kind of good that was giving him a reassuring smile, and brushing a gentle hand against his elbow as he unlocked his front door, leading Noah inside his apartment.

As Jude stepped inside the place he’d lived for over a year now, it sort of hit him how empty the place really was. Jude had been reluctant to call it a home, or even attempt to make it one, and the only furniture that hadn’t come with the apartment when he’d bought it, was furniture Lionel had made him buy in a desperate attempt to make his soulless apartment feel slightly more personal.

“I can see why,” Noah raised an eyebrow, glancing around the pristine white kitchen, the grey and white of the living room. “Do you actually live here, or is this a show home you’ve rented for the night?”

Jude rolled his eyes. “Funny,” he said. “I just haven’t really felt like decorating, I guess.”

Noah’s face softened, understanding replacing his raised eyebrow. “Lionel definitely bought most of the stuff in here, right? Because those vases are the most Lionel thing I’ve ever seen,” he gestured toward the set of marble vases Jude had been too tired to protest when Lionel had barged in with them, six months previous.

Giving her the spare key had been a terrible, terrible idea.

Jude nodded, shrugging off his suit jacket. “Yeah, she did,” he couldn’t help but smile at the memory now. Other people, they would have given up on Jude after a few weeks of his moping, but Lionel hadn’t. She’d stayed, and she’d picked up all his pieces, and she’d been the best person in Jude’s life.

Other people didn’t do that.

“Don’t be so nervous,” Noah said, picking up on Jude’s emotions as always, crossing the space between them quickly, his hands on Jude’s waist. “I like you, Jude - a lot. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Even if I push?” Jude tried to joke, resting his hands on Noah’s shoulders, the two of them halfway to swaying as they stood in the kitchen, stood on the brink of something that had the potential to be so great.

“Even if you push,” Noah replied, grinning as he pressed a long, slow, kiss to Jude’s lips. “I know where you live now, don’t I?”

Jude couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah, you do,” he agreed. “Do you want to shower first? We’re both pretty soaked through.”

Noah nodded, glancing over his shoulder. “Through there, right?”

“If you want to shower in the laundry room, sure,” Jude grinned, directing Noah more to the left. “That’s the bathroom - towels are in the cupboard by the door.”

Noah nodded, pulling off his jacket as his headed for the bathroom. It was funny, really, how much Noah seems to light up the emptiness of Jude’s apartment, his big, bright personality filling every dull corner, every quiet moment Jude had sat through alone.

Jude could get used to this.

Noah was stripped to his boxers as he reached the bathroom door. “Are you coming or not?” he grinned cheekily. “I might have some trouble with the shower, you know.”

Jude couldn’t help but laugh, the sound echoing around his glaringly empty apartment. “It’s very complicated,” he drawled tugging his tie off, following the trail of clothes Noah had left behind.

“I’m good with complicated,” Noah tilted his chin slightly, giving Jude an expectant look.

Jude was happy to lean in and kiss Noah, Noah’s hands deftly undoing the buttons of Jude’s damp shirt, shoving it off Jude’s shoulders to join the rest of their clothes on the floor, the tiles of the bathroom cool under Jude’s feet as he toed his shoes and socks off, in such a hurry to catch up Noah’s state of undress, he nearly toppled over, Noah looping a steady arm around Jude’s waist.

“I know I’m gorgeous, Jude, but I can wait ten more seconds,” Noah smirked, eyes bright and mouth all too inviting as he held Jude close, the coolness of the bathroom and their damp skin making goosebumps break out all over Jude’s skin, a shiver going down his spine.

“Shut up,” Jude laughed, breathless as he reached around Noah and turned the shower on, steaming beginning to fill the bathroom.

“Are you going to make me?” Noah teased, easing his underwear down over his hips, flicking them at an unsuspecting Jude.

Jude pushed Noah back toward the shower, returning Noah’s wicked grin. “Maybe I will.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brave - brave felt a lot like being free, if you asked Jude. Freedom to laugh, and kiss, and eat Chinese takeout in your underwear with a guy who might make you very, very happy - if only you were brave enough to give him the chance.

Bravery, well - 

Bravery felt like diving headfirst in, knowing how it might end - all for the sake of it maybe working out in Jude’s favour.


End file.
